ninan.org

Laura

Girls' name · Late 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~618,800 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#379 among girls
Births in 2025
805 804,390 since 1880
Typical age
52 years, median

Laura popularity over time

Laura rank by birth year, 1880–2025Laura ranked #17 in 1880 and #379 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #10, in 1969.#10#100#379best #10 in 196918901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

Laura was used most in 1964, when 19,008 babies were given the name. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. It has held a top-100 place in 112 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #379 with 805 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 21%. It slipped 22 places against the previous year.

Babies named Laura per yearPeaks at 19,008 births in 1964.19,008 in 1964018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Laura?

About 618,800 people named Laura are alive in the United States today. SSA has recorded 804,390 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Laura?

Half of living Lauras are older than 52, half younger. Most living bearers were born in the 1960s. By the site’s era rules that makes Laura a late 20th-century perennial name.

Your Laura

Ages of living people named LauraHalf of living Lauras are older than 52 and half younger.median 52020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Laura is most common

Relative to births, Massachusetts carries 3.1× the national share of Lauras. Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Connecticut follow.

Where Laura is used more than average5 states use the name Laura more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: 1.9× the national ratePANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: 1.8× the national rateCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: 1.7× the national rateKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 3.1× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: 2.1× the national rateMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Laura is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Massachusetts 426 3.1×
Mississippi 121 2.1×
Pennsylvania 504 1.9×
Connecticut 116 1.8×
Kentucky 162 1.7×

Laura in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Laura ranked #303 in 2025 on 148 births. That is 47% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Laura comes from

From Late Latin saint's name Laura, from the feminine form of laurus (“laurel tree”). A post-classical name made famous by Petrarch's sonnets to Laura in the fourteenth century.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Laura

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Laura Bush First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 1946 94
Laura Chinchilla 46th President of Costa Rica 1959 73
Laura Pausini Italian singer 1974 73
Laura Dern American actress and producer 1967 72
Laura Prepon American actress and director 1980 62
Laura Ingalls Wilder American children's writer, diarist, and journalist 1867–1957 58
Laura Bassi Italian physicist 1711–1778 57
Laura Linney American actress 1964 57
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 2,251 in 1944 to 3,595 in 1945 — 1.6 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Laura

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/laura.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).